This blog was originally published on Forbes as ‘Show Some Teeth,’ And Other Misguided Coaching Commands on Tuesday, February 28, 2017. Public and private companies spend hundreds of millions of dollars every year to develop what is broadly termed their “messaging.”

This blog was originally published on Forbes as Carly Fiorina: Style Over Substance on Tuesday, August 25, 2015. Although Carly Fiorina’s performance in the Republican presidential debate earlier this month drew extensive attention and praise in the media—accompanied by a jump in the aggregate national public opinion polls from less than one point to 4.3 in one week […]

This blog was originally published on Forbes as It’s All About You? Never! on Friday, July 31, 2015. During the recent NBA Championship series, when the Cleveland Cavaliers fell behind the Golden State Warriors 3 games to 2, their star, LeBron James, was asked by a reporter whether he felt pressure.

This blog was originally published on Forbes as How Obama Handles False Assumptions on Friday, July 17, 2015. “When did you stop beating your wife?” is the classic false assumption question because it implies that you have indeed been beating your wife.

This blog was originally published on Forbes as The Sixth Success Factor For Startups: The Perfected Pitch on Monday, June 15, 2015. “Startup Veteran” sounds like an oxymoron but it describes Bill Gross perfectly. Fresh out of Cal Tech in the 1980s, he started, grew, and sold three of his own companies.

Power Presentations, Ltd. deals extensively with how to overcome the fear of public speaking. Comedian Jerry Seinfeld once said, “I read a thing that actually says that speaking in front of a crowd is considered the number one fear of the average person. I found that amazing–number two was death! That means to the average […]

Bravo to Seth Godin for his post, “Words. Sentences. Paragraphs. Stories,” in which he complains about public speeches—and by extension, presentations—that are “based on sentences. At the end of each sentence, the voice goes up a bit, the speaker pauses, as if waiting for an applause line…It’s my least favorite part of the Techstars pitch […]

Sir Winston Churchill, the great British Prime Minister, prolific author, and distinguished orator who addressed some of the most august assemblies in the world, once delivered a speech to the boys at Harrow School in Britain:

Mortimer Adler, the noted 20th Century professor, philosopher, and chairman of the Board of Editors at Encyclopedia Britannica, was also a scholar of the classics. In his 1983 book, How to Speak How to Listen, Mr. Adler described an invitation he received to speak at the Advertising Clubs of California: They asked me in advance […]

Just because you are not an artist doesn’t mean your slides can’t be visually stimulating. Take the time to explore the world of “infographics” and start giving life to your slides. Read the full blog on Indezine.

In the Sunday New York Times Book Review section, novelist Colson Whitehead took the opportunity to poke fun at some tried and true rules of the writers’ craft, some of which I have recommended myself. Among them are: Show and tell Write what you know Less is More, aka “Kill Your Darlings” What isn’t said […]

While many of us have been classically trained to order our thoughts and ideas in a structured outline, it takes away the creative flow of materializing our thoughts onto paper. In this blog post on Indezine, Jerry touches on the idea of free form thinking—a brainstorming technique that allows ease of flow when creating your story.

The Pause that Refreshes After several high school and college courses, a few classes at Berlitz, and numerous trips to France and Italy, I have developed enough facility in their languages to get by in their restaurants, hotels, and shops, but not nearly enough to have full conversations. However, I have also developed a taste […]

Do what feels natural to you—presenting does not mean performing, and the audience will notice if you feel uncomfortable in front of the room. Take a look at how former president, Ronald Reagan tackled this task in this blog on Harvard Business Review.

See how taking small steps toward improving your presentation skills are similar to that of learning how to swim. By gradually adding practice and methodology to your existing presentation flow, you will progress into a confident and powerful presenter, without any “floaties.” Today on HBR.